This invention relates to graft interpolymers and more particularly to interpolymers prepared by graft copolymerizing a mixture of ethylene and carbon monoxide onto an .alpha.-olefin polymer backbone.
Copolymers of carbon monoxide and ethylenically unsaturated materials would be desirable because of the low cost and ready availability of carbon monoxide. Copolymers of ethylene and carbon monoxide have been known for several years but attempts to commercialize these copolymers have not proven successful, largely because of the difficulties of preparing these copolymers at less than very high pressures and with sufficiently high carbon monoxide content to make their preparation and use worthwhile.
Recent advances in the field which make it possible to produce ethylene-carbon monoxide copolymers containing high carbon monoxide contents at moderate pressures has created a new interest in these polymers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,024,325 and 4,024,326 describe improved processes for preparing ethylene-carbon monoxide copolymers.
There is also renewed interest in developing other ethylene-carbon monoxide copolymer systems. It has been believed that other polymer systems can be upgraded by incorporating carbon monoxide-containing polymers into them. U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,286 discloses several terpolymers prepared by copolymerizing ethylene, carbon monoxide and various other ethylenically unsaturated monomeric materials.
Other patents of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,495,285, 2,541,987 and 3,248,359 which disclose blends of ethylene-carbon monoxide copolymer with various polymers.